Petty Little Things
by SoundSleepingGarden
Summary: What does it mean to lose someone? As a father mourns over the loss of his only daughter, his friend comes to him with an alien compound and an unusual solution. Can it mend his pain, or will he sink further into his own guilt?
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: This story takes place in the world of Steven Universe but doesn't focus on any main characters just OC's, also this story was written back before the first movie and I finally got a chance to fix it up, so if anything sounds strange I didn't bother to fix it, Enjoy!

* * *

_\- PLAY -_

_Standing inside of an inflatable pool in what appears to be a backyard stands a young girl her mouth closes and opens as if she is trying to say something. Suddenly from behind the camera calls a soft voice _

"_Come on Sarah, didn't you want to show daddy something?". A bright smile spreads across the young girls face as she clumsily tries to perform a handstand before failing halfway. As she picks herself up from the failed stunt she suddenly rushes off camera yelling _

"_Daddy! Daddy! You Try!" The Camera pans over to reveal a small party filled with close friends, Sarah runs up to her father, an average sized man with short messy dark brown hair and hazel eyes. The man laughs and follows Sarah back to the camera. _

"_You know I'm getting to old for this Diana." he says to the camera. _

"_Come on Anthony, it's going to be funny and you aren't that old for someone in their thirties!" his wife laughs behind the camera. Anthony rolls his eyes as he meekly attempts to perform a handstand while Sarah attempts as well. He only makes it halfway before quitting and Sarah almost makes it before she falls onto him. They both end up laughing as he picks them both up before posing for the video like a camera. _

"_Maybe she'll end u-RING RING_

_\- PAUSE –_

When I turned off the TV I saw my reflection stare back at me, what once was a young man stood someone in his early fifties, the hairs on my head showing mostly grey and there were dark circles under my eyes from long restless nights. I was going through old objects trying to pack them away, but I found myself getting lost in old tapes. After regaining myself, I head back upstairs, a box in my hands and a sense of reluctance in the back of my head.

I stopped at the door to what was once my daughters room trying to gather my courage. As I went in everything was the same way we left it. I sat the box down on her bed, surveying the room trying to figure out how to put everything away, but is I sifted through old photographs and her collection of sea glass I found myself sitting down on her bed going through old memories in my head.

Before I realized it, I was down in the kitchen and it was close to six o'clock at night, I silently cursed myself out as I knew that I didn't even try to pack her room. The idea of letting go was beginning to seem futile, this was my seventh attempt this month to try and clean out her belongings. I disappointedly prepared a meal for one as I tried to make sense of how to move on.

As I was cleaning up after dinner, there was a call on my home phone it was from my old friend Kevin, which was strange since I haven't heard from him for almost a solid year.

"Hey Anthony Buddy ol' pal, How goes the bachelor pad!" came the ecstatic voice from the other side of the phone.

"H-Hey Kenny, long time no call." came the meek reply from myself as I multitasked cleaning up.

"Listen Anthony, we should talk, mind meeting me at that old diner we used to go to."

"That would be great Kenny but it's getting kind of late, maybe some other time." I said as I tried to get away from the conversation before getting cut off.

"Come on Anthony, its only a quick chat, just like the good old times." I huffed, only to reply with a "Fine" as Kenny hung up with a "You won't regret it".

As I hung up the phone, I turned my attention to the packing box I left on the counter, I put it away and hoped I would have the strength to do it next time.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Come on kiddo you have to fall asleep sometime" Anthony stood over Sarah's bed she was comically covered in her favorite stuffed toys._

"_You can't make me" She said sticking her head out from the small pile before blowing a raspberry at her father._

"_Well I guess I'll have to tuck all the animals into bed" He said as he pulled the covers over the pile. Sarah erupted from the pile as she attempted to make an escape_

"_Come on dad! Catch m- "_

I entered Mel's Diner, our groups old stomping ground for afterschool fun. Tucked in the back, inside our familiar corner booth sat Kenny, his crooked nose and receding hairline was easy to spot in this not so busy restaurant.

"Anthony, hey it's been awhile." Kenny said as I sat down across from him.

"So . . . what brings you around here." I said to Kenny as he drank some coffee.

"Look Anthony, I'm going to be blunt with you, my company is having me work on some new compound and I thought that you could help." I silently groaned to myself, I knew that no news would have been good news.

"I hope you're not looking for handouts Kenny, I'm already busy myself." I said as an innocent white lie.

"No, its nothing like that! Look I know it's been awhile, but I trust you with this."

"With what?" came my only reply. Kenny pulled a small object wrapped in a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to me, inside was a glass vial filled with a strange purplish substance.

"You're making jam?" I said in a sarcastic reply.

"What you're looking at is something not even on the periodic table, what you're looking at is alien, Gem tech to be precise." My eyes widened as I stuffed the tube back into the handkerchief.

"Jesus Kenny, do the feds know about this? Is this stuff even stable?" I said in a hushed panic. My mind was racing, the high school history side of me knew that gems spelled out nothing but trouble.

"Everything's fine Anthony, just relax".

"Where did you even get this stuff?" I asked questionably.

"Some guys found this stuff by scraping some old gem constructs, but that's not the point Anthony." Kenny said with a sly look.

"What matters is how we can use this stuff to our advantage, with our minds combined who knows what we can do with this." he said enthusiastically.

"What can it even do?" I said turning the wrapped vial in my hand.

"I've been told by injecting a gemstone with the substance can create replicas of previous gems." he paused for a second thinking something over before continuing

". . . I've also heard that some people claim that it works with human DNA". My breath stopped for a second, part of my mind was telling myself not to fall for his dumb tricks, but the back of my mind was telling me something completely different. When I looked back at him, I noticed he was rambling for a bit.

"So, what do you say old friend? Mind helping me out?" he said as he extends his arm for a handshake.

I smiled and shook his hand "Sure, just like old times."

"Great, give me about a week to grab my equipment and then we begin, this is just going to be like hanging out again, I can't wait." He said ecstatically. As Kenny went to pay for his coffee, I tried to hand him the vial, but he told me to hang on to it. As we parted ways the ideas at the back of my mind was starting to sound convincing.

And as Kenny was leaving, he thought _What's a little white lie between friends?_


	3. Chapter 3

"_Honey look!" came the excited call from the passenger seat of the car. Beside me sat my wife, trying to cox are daughter from the backseat of our car too look out the window._

"_Wow" Came the astonished reply from Sarah as she diverted her attention from her handheld console. _

"_It'll look better up close, come on" I said as pulled into the driveway, expecting the rest to follow. As we stood on the lawn, we admi- _

I pulled into the garage of my house, my body feeling heavy but my mind feeling like a race car. My mind was occupied by old memories and questions that couldn't really be answered.

The house was quiet as I entered, the sound of old floorboards moving as I made my way to the kitchen. I placed the vial on a side counter and prepared to clean some dishes that I had left behind. As I was about to get to work I spied the box from the corner of my eye, the one for Sarah's room. My mind was repeating the words that Kenny said to me earlier, the words "Replicas" and "Human DNA" sticking to my mind like cement.

Trying to shake such foolish thoughts from my mind I took the box and went up to Sarah's room. Leaving the box next to the door, I noticed that I left the door only half closed when trying to clean the room up earlier. As I was closing the door a memory of my daughter came into my mind, it was of her first time seeing the room in person.

_Sarah spun around her new room, looking at it with a sense of interest. My wife and I standing in the doorway watching our daughter plan out her layout. _

The memory was unbearable, as I made my way down to the kitchen to try and pry the memories out of my head. I tried to focus on cleaning for a little while only to find myself glancing at the vial, wondering. When I finished I grabbed the vial and headed towards the garage, I needed to test it, just to see if it works.

Inside my two-car garage was a makeshift lab that I used in my spare time, I was always a person to busy myself in their job. I promised myself to only use a little, Afterall Kenny would be coming back for it.

The night trudged along as I got lost in my studies, from what I observed of the substance I could tell it was almost virus like in a way. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, time was going by too fast and I'm pretty sure I saw the sun peaking from between the cracks in my garage door. But for me to conclude my research, I had to test it first.

While rummaging through some old Knick knacks I found an old novelty gemstone, it wasn't perfect, but it would do for now. I braced myself as I placed the drop of substance from the vial onto the gemstone. The gem absorbed the drop like a sponge, before dimly glowing. I stood back waiting for a response, minutes slowly ticked by as the stone lost its glow and assumingly died out.

I mentally kicked myself in the back of the head. _All this time wasted for something that doesn't even work,_ I thought to myself. I could feel the hours of staying up so late catch up with me. I stumbled my way to my bedroom hoping to catch a least a wink of sleep and to hope my dreams could talk some sense into me.

I awoke from a dreamless sleep, my mind still connected to that annoying substance still sitting around in my lab. I poured myself a cup of coffee to the setting sun, my mind coming up with possibilities and more questions. As I was about to turn on the tv to distract my mind, I noticed that the remote wasn't working. _Just a dead battery,_ I thought to myself and then it hit me.

I rushed to the lab with a couple of batteries in my hand and started to get to work. After a short period, I connected the wires to both Double A batteries and carefully placed the end of the wire onto the gemstone. I placed a drop of substance onto the gem and waited for a response. This time the gem slowly started to glow brighter than before, but there was something majorly different. In the air I could hear what sounded like a dull tone, almost like someone trying to start a tune.

I stood and listened for a minute before the tone died out, I looked down towards the gemstone and saw that once again It had grown dim. It was at that moment I knew that I was onto something.


	4. Chapter 4

"_This is impossible" Said my daughter as she laid her head on the dining room table._

"_It's just math, it can't be too hard." I said sitting across from her examining the paper that she slid towards me. Looking at the paper it seemed easy but then she slid me another piece of paper with exemplary work. I looked at it dumbfounded; it made no sense._

"_Guess, I'll have to call in the big guns" I said jokingly._

"_Honey?" I called out for Diana in the other room_

After many tests with the battery, I felt like today I would finally make a breakthrough. I collected a large assortment of batteries and created a makeshift charger. I prepared for the worst as I set up the charger to the gem and checked everything to make sure it was functioning correctly.

Finally, without further delay I placed a drop of substance onto the gem and stood back. I watched in awe as the gem was enveloped with light as a dull tone appeared once again, but something was wrong. The gem only sat there, rocking back and forth doing nothing of value, and slowly started dimming. I started to panic, I scrambled through my garage looking for anything that can continue a current.

That's when I spotted it, an unused car battery. Without hesitating I connected the battery onto the makeshift charger, the gem lit back up but slowly it started to levitate. What was once a dull tone resonating from the gem suddenly grew into a musical hum, it sounded almost like singing. But that humming, it sounded just like . . .

I drew close to the gem, only for the gems musical hum to suddenly turn into a high-pitched whine. I shielded my head with my arms as suddenly the gem exploded, sending small shards of stone across the room and into my arms. I fell to the ground my arms feeling like they were on fire and the smell of smoke wafting through the air.

As quickly as I could, I rushed myself out of the garage and into the kitchen and ran my hands underneath the cold water from the sink. I assessed the damage to myself, both of my forearms had small fragments of gems imbedded into them and I was bleeding. Doing my best as a makeshift doctor I removed most of the shards and disinfected the wounds.

After a good solid hour of doctoring, I checked the garage. The place was in rough shape, my car took most of the damage, sharing the same fate as my arms. I slowly got to work on cleaning the garage, but my mind was somewhere else.

I could feel a spark of hope at the back of my mind, that humming earlier.

_It sounded just like my daughter's._


	5. Chapter 5

_Kenny and I stood around a picnic table, two beers in our hands, chatting the day away._

"_God, how old is Sarah know?" Kenny said while sipping his beer._

"_Ten this month" I said with pride in my voice. Sarah was trying to open a bag chips and I approached her._

"_Need help with that sweetie" I said._

"_I got it; I can handle it" she said trying to swat me away. _

_Me and Kenny both got a good laugh out of that that_

I awoke with a start, banging from the front door wakeing me from my deep sleep. These past few days have been a blur from studying to testing, the dull pain in my arms a constant reminder of what I'm working towards. I headed over to the bathroom trying to make myself look presentable for whoever was knocking.

Opening the front door, Kenny stood holding a box full of what I assumed was his equipment.

"Yo Anthony, mind helping me with this" He said as he pushed past me and walked into the foyer. I grabbed the box and we both headed for my lab, as we walked Kenny prattled on about his job and work permits.

As I entered the lab, I remembered the previous nights and I realized I needed to distract Kenny before he noticed.

"It's kind of early do you want something to eat" I said. He looked at me quizzically before saying

"Its three o' clock Anthony are you feeling al – ". Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the vial, it was empty except for the purplish residue staining the glass.

"What the -" Kenny picked up the vial in disbelief.

"What did you do Anthony?" He looked back at me angrily.

"Look Kenny it's not what you think" I said as I tried to reason with him.

Kenny stomped towards me and grabbed the collar of my shirt before bringing the vial close to me. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!" He scolded

"I needed to test it" I pleaded

"I needed to know if it worked" I said trying to reassure him

He took a step back and covered his mouth as he started to pace around the room.

"Look, what you said at the diner got me thinking, I needed to try just to make sure, and – "I said trying to explain my case, but before I could tell him he interrupted.

Kenny turned around and gave me a sympathetic look "Anthony . . . I lied, I just wanted your help"

"Your wrong Kenny" I walked over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"It worked Kenny, it worked" I could feel tears well up in my eyes "I heard her Kenny, I heard her voice"

Kenny looked at me, a sense of pity in his eyes

"Anthony, it was never supposed to work. What you heard wasn't her and it was never supposed to be her."

I looked at Kenny with a sense of anger and disgust "So, Then what? What was this all for?"

He sighed and looked off to his shoulder "I just wanted to work with you again, you shut yourself in for so long"

I softened up "Then let's get back to work, my daughter is close"

He looked back at me pitifully

"Haven't you heard a word I said, look how about I give you some time to cool off" He grabbed the equipment and the vial and headed toward the door

I stopped him before he could leave "Give me the vial Kenny, I still need what's left"

He looked at me annoyed "Look maybe you should give it a rest on this project, when I come back, we can work on something else."

I grabbed the box holding him at the door

"Give me the vial Kenny." I said in a low angry voice

He strong armed the box out of my hands and left out the door as fast as he could.

I stared at the door in disbelief before murmuring at the inanimate object

"Fine."

"FINE!" I slammed the door with my fist, feeling the pain shoot through my fist.

"I don't need him, and I don't need his help" I said quietly to myself

With my only friend fleeing from my house, I had no way of securing more of that substance. Which meant I had to go straight to the source


	6. Chapter 6

_I was busy working inside my home lab, writing some vague statements on the board._

"_I'm sorry, could you repeat that" I asked my wife, standing near the door with her arms crossed._

"_I said you can't stay in her forever Anthony, you need to come out sometime." I looked at the clock, it was close to midnight._

"_I didn't realize what time it was" I admitted._

"_Anthony, you're such a workaholic sometimes, I swear" She said as she started to leave._

"_I'll be done in a minute" I said as I continued, the hand on the clock slowly ticked by._

I drove through the backwoods, the night covering the roads in a eerie darkness. In the passenger seat of the car sat my tools, a shovel, a bolt cutter, and a plastic bucket with a lid. The car ride over to my destination was in silence, my mind only strayed on old memories and bad thoughts.

I slowly pulled into what looked like a rock quarry, I parked my car near a chain link fence that blocked the area. As I got out, I noted the sign on the fence _CAUTION AUTHORIZED PERSONAL ONLY_ and below it a hand carved wooden sign with the single word, _Please_. I chuckled to myself, it was probably made by some concerned parent. I quickly got to work on the chain link fence making a hole big enough for myself.

I made my way through and towards a cliff side. As I was walking, I noted the sudden change in my surroundings, the ground was more ashen and clay like and the sounds of the forest at night replaced with an ear-piercing silence. I stared deep into the valley below, large alien objects jutted from the walls and floors.

I gathered my courage and started looking for a way down, following the cliffside I found a man-made path leading down to the bottom of the valley. As I descended deeper into the valley it became much darker than before, I pulled out a flashlight and neared the bottom. At the bottom I began my search, I was looking for one of the large gem structures to be tipped over, to allow me for easier access to its contents.

After searching for what felt like half an hour, I found just what I was looking for, a large gem structure leaning against the cliffside. I got on top of it to start examining it, but stopped when I suddenly heard something, the sound of glass scratching against rock. I shined my flashlight around in the darkness before the light reflected off something pink. A human sized statue stood in the distance; it was to far away to make out its appearance.

As I tried to get back to work the scratching came back and was closer than before, I shown my light in the direction of the statue and saw that it was full-on sprinting directly towards me. I panicked and rushed to my shovel, as soon as I grabbed it, I felt the wind get knocked out of me as I was tackled to the ground. I struggled to escaped from its grasp and managed to push myself away it, I stood up and pointed the shovel towards the creature, hoping to distance myself from it.

I stared at the creature, it stood slightly shorter than me, it had the appearance of a mannequin that had no facial features and its whole body was jagged and rocky. The creature began to circle me, like some sort of predator, I tried to scare it off with some shouts and gestures but to no avail. It rushed me, trying to knock the shovel out of my hands but I managed to pin it against the large gem structure. I swung the shovel at the creature, and it dodged out of the way. The swing landed on the glass paneling of the structure, sending shards of glass everywhere.

I shielded myself from the glass and suddenly the creature wrapped its arms around my neck, choking me. I struggled gasping for air as I tried to get myself free, an elbow to the things stomach allowed me to free myself from its grasp. I grabbed the shovel that I lost in the conflict and struck the creature on the side of its body, I sent it to the ground as I continued to hit the creature. After a handful of hard swings, the creature glowed and retracted back into a gem.

I examined the stone, it looked like a cut pink gemstone big enough to fit in the palm of my hand, I pocketed it, perhaps I could study it for future reference. I went back to the large structure and found that my shovel punctured a large sac, it was dripping a purplish substance. I took my chances and disconnected the sac from any tubes that were connected and stored it in the plastic bucket. I left as quickly as I could, I didn't want to run into another abomination like that.


	7. Chapter 7

"_I forbid you from seeing him and that's final" I shouted at my daughter's door._

"_I HATE YOU!" Came the equally loud reply. Diana placed her hand onto my shoulder, giving me a pleading look to calm down._

"_I don't trust this Skyler guy Diana, you could practically smell the pot from a mile away". I said sitting on the couch next to my wife._

"_Weren't you rough and tumble back in the days?" She said poking at me._

"_This is different, I want better for my daughter" I said quietly back._

"_Well, what's the best for her?" she asked back._

"_I don't know" I said earnestly._

My body felt numb, my attention was turned to my work, ever since I got back from that little trip it has been nothing but eat, sleep, and experiment. I locked myself in to my lab, refusing to come out until I got it right. Each test of the material has been nothing but failure after failure, I was currently working on my 25th attempt at resurrection.

I pleaded to some unseen source for something, anything to work at this point. I sighed as an old jewelry gemstone began to glow then slowly fade, another failure to add to the board. I turned to look at what I was currently studying, the creature's gem from some nights ago. Its gem baffled me, on the surface it was nothing more than some hand cut gemstone, but deep inside I knew stood a beast waiting to attack as soon as it could free itself.

The origins of the gemstone also baffled me, there was no way it could emerge from the earth in such a way that the holes would suggest. I was mulling over the idea of submerging the gem in dirt when the doorbell rang. I tried to ignore it and continue my work, but it continued steadily. I angrily marched to the door, deciding to give who ever was ringing a piece of my mind.

I opened the door haphazardly.

"Go Away" I said angrily to the person standing in front of me.

"Anthony? You look like crap" Kenny stood there soaking in the situation

"What do you want Kenny?" I said as I slowly tried to hide myself behind the door, concealing my muddied-up clothes, disheveled hair, and bandaged arms.

"I just came to check if you're still breathing" He said jokingly

"Mind if I come in?" He said trying to force his way in

I blocked his entrance, he looked at me questionably

"I thought you said you were giving this whole thing a rest" I Said trying to stay him with my words

"Yeah, work not our friendship" He said as he tried to get past

"Maybe we should give that a rest too" I said silently to myself

Kenny was quiet for a moment, he probably heard that. Part of me felt guilty for saying that, the other half of me thinking he deserved it.

"Look, why don't we go to Mel's and talk it out, like old times sake" He said trying to steer the conversation away

"No thanks, I still got work to do and I don't need you to help" I said trying to get rid of him.

He looked at me confused then he started to get angry

"Christ, you're still working on that thing, aren't you? You kept some of that shit, haven't you?" He tried forcing the door open, but I did not budge.

We struggled for the door trying to close and open it, I managed to gain the upper hand and slammed the door only to accidentally slam it on his hand. He let out a harsh yell before pulling his hand out of the door and wince in pain on my front porch.

I gathered my courage and yelled at him.

"I DON'T NEED YOU KENNY, I DON'T NEED FRIENDS AND I DON'T NEED HELP"

The words burned in my throat, the back of my stomach felt nauseas and my head feeling the strongest sense of regret. I peered out the side door window, I saw Kenny look sadly at me before heading back to his car. I headed to the bathroom, to try and clean myself off. My mind wandering, trying to figure out my gemstone shortage predicament.

I passed my daughters room and stopped for a moment, my eyes stopping on her collection of sea glass. I slowly entered the room entranced with the possibilities with my studies. I picked up the one that she held the dearest, a large sea green glass heart and held it in the palm of my hand. When she comes back, she will forgive me for having to use some of them. I rushed to my lab, there was still much that needed to be done.

* * *

Kenny sat in his car trying to figure out how to fix the situation that he was in. He exhausted his ideas before he figured that there was only one way left. He sighed to himself, he hoped that Anthony will thank him for this later. He picked up his phone and dialed her number and waited.

"Diana it's Kenny, we need to talk"


	8. Chapter 8

"_Are you sure you don't want to visit my mom?" Said Diana as she checked her suitcase before leaving._

"_Yeah Dad its only going to be a couple of days, you won't miss much of work" Came the reply of my teenage daughter as she checked herself in the mirror._

"_Nope, this is supposed to be a girl's week, I want no part of it." I said ushering them towards the door. We shared our goodbyes and I got straight to work. Those long days were uneventful, filled with minor chores and mostly working. But I knew at the end of the day they would come back. I knew that a couple of days loneliness beat a lifetime worth it._

With every sea glass that got destroyed in my little project, I could feel part of my self-respect and self-dignity get destroyed along with it. My failures ranged somewhere in the hundreds, even the soil that showed some promise did nothing to hinder my climbing numbers. I sat in my chair, surrounded by failures and the mess of my research. I peaked at what remains of my daughter's sea glass collection, only two tiny stones remained, and my daughters favorite one.

I wiped the tiredness from my eyes, maybe everyone was right I mulled to myself, maybe everyone thinks I'm a failure. I left my garage trying to gather my thoughts and maybe some courage. As I traveled my house, I noted the untouched rooms filled with dust from the misuse. I found myself in my daughters' room, I sat on her bed trying to piece together something that resembled a thought.

Part of me was destroying myself on the inside, going off on every little thing that I have done wrong and reminding myself of how deep I got myself into this mess. The other half of me wanted someone to come and tell me that everything I've done has been for something, and that there was nothing to worry about and that all was forgiven. I had one last try in me, but I don't think I will be able to forgive myself if were to fail. I gathered my courage and decided to try to give it one more go.

I held onto my daughter's favorite glass heart and connected it to the charger. I dripped some of the material onto the heart, then buried it into a small box filled with soil. I watched sadly, expecting the light to die out and the heart to shatter, but light remained.

I stared dumbfounded; this was something entirely new. I looked around panicked trying to figure out if there was any way to help. As I searched around the room, the sound of humming continued steadily, my mind going into overdrive. Suddenly the light and sound started to dim, I panicked and had to act fast, I wasn't going to lose her again.

From across the garage I spotted some jumper cables, I pried open the hood of my car and attached it to the car battery and made a mad dash for the charger. When I attached It, I was sent hurdling to the back of the garage, the light turned blinding and the humming shifted into a high-pitched screech. The giant ball of light that was once a heart shaped glass was now enveloping the room covering it in a singeing heat, I dragged myself to cover and hoped for the best.

The light continued to burn and then started to dim. I peeked out from behind cover to see most of my garage burnt. But my attention was turned elsewhere, my daughters glass heart stayed motionless in the air, enveloped in the deep light. I stared in awe as the light of the gemstone formed into the shape of a person, its gem remained in the persons neck.

The light subsided and

Oh god

It was her

It was truly her

She raised her hands in a diamond salute and said in a voice as clear as day

"[̷͎͝0̵̨̆͐0̶͇̂̿0̴̼̺́:̸̙̤̒Ẋ̶͉̻̀Y̶̭͊Ƹ̶̡̺͋0̶̦̈:̷̱͔̃̚M̸̭̿͠Ǝ̸̳́Ꭾ̷͚̭͋͒]̶͎̾͊ facet number [̷̰̽̑0̴̡̧̽̽0̸̪͘ͅ0̵̡̊:̸̩̹́̈∀ᙠ̴̪̀͛Ɔ̷̲̠͊͊X̶̭̃̀⅄̶̩͂Z̷͚̼̈́̅0̴͇͕̊:̴̳̱̚⊥̜̋∩̷̺͙̊Ɔ̶͉͋]̶̢̪͊ reporting for duty."

She looked confused for a second

I shuffled over to her on my knees

I rapped my hands around her in a hug, tears welling down my face

"You're home, Oh god, you're finally home"


	9. Chapter 9

"_She's beautiful" I said quietly as I held her in my arms. I sat next to Diana so we could both admire her._

"_I think she has your eyes" She said taking the baby from my hand and coddling her. Even as we sat there quietly admiring her, I think we both knew what her name would be_.

We moved to the kitchen, there was so much that needed to be said and done that my body felt like it was rushing ahead of me. I sat her down at the kitchen table, I looked for something to offer to her from the fridge only to find it staggeringly empty. I settled for two glasses of water; I gave one to her then sat across from her smiling ear to ear.

"So how are you feeling? You must be Hungry or at least thirsty for being gone for so long?" I said trying to make a connection

"Thirst?" Came her static reply

I laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"Could you please identify yourself?" She said quizzically

I shook off her question and tried to act cool.

"Don't you recognize your old Dad anymore? Or am I just too uncool to be a good parent?" I said trying to get anything out of her

"Dad?" She said confused

"There we go, can you remember your name?" I could feel warmth spread through my body, she remembered

"I am a standard [̷͎͝0̵̨̆͐0̶͇̂̿0̴̼̺́:̸̙̤̒Ẋ̶͉̻̀Y̶̭͊Ƹ̶̡̺͋0̶̦̈:̷̱͔̃̚M̸̭̿͠Ǝ̸̳́Ꭾ̷͚̭͋͒]̶͎̾͊, I have no other registered names." She looked a little befuddled when she said that, as if she couldn't understand the words coming out of her mouth

"Your name is Sarah, try to take it easy, you're still recovering" I said trying to reassure her

"I do not know of any individual by the name of Sarah" She looked at me questionably

"What can you remember?" I said trying to change the subject

"I know I was injected at site M̸̭̿͠Ǝ̸̳́Ꭾ̷͚̭͋͒Y̶̭͊0̴̼̺́ and – "She stopped suddenly, still looking confused

"That's ok, what matters is that you're safe" I said as I gathered up the glasses and put them near the sink

As I put the glasses away, I noted the changes in her body. Her skin was light green and her hair was a slightly darker shade of it, the glass used to create her was embedded into her neck, and her eyes glowed like car headlights. But other than those minor changes she looked and spoke just like my daughter, and deep down I knew she was. Even as I continued doing the dishes, she did not take her eyes off me, it seemed like she was almost studying me.

"You must be tired, let me show you back to your room" I motioned for her to follow me

I led her to her room and opened the door for her. She scanned the room quickly before looking back at me quizzically. I sighed to myself, hoping for at least a comment on how well kept it was.

"Goodnight, we can talk more in the morning." I said closing the door

"What's a goodnight?" She said as I closed the door

I tried to get a good night's rest, but something was bothering me about her. Her legs looked exactly like that creature's legs that tried to kill me in the valley. A small part of me thought what if she were to end up like that creature. I shook it off, no matter how much she changed she was still my daughter, I would stick with her no matter what. I drifted to sleep, my mind was finally at ease


	10. Chapter 10

_As we walked around the zoo on that warm fall day, the distance between me and Sarah was almost palpable. Sarah walked ahead of us texting on her phone, giving no attention to the exhibits around her_

"_Can you wait up for us!" I tried called out to her, but she did not respond_

"_Don't worry about it Anthony, she's just growing out of us." Diane said jokingly next to me_

"_I just wish she would slow down; she goes out so much I barely get to see her anymore." I said with twinge remorse_

I awoke calm and collected the next morning, the day looking bright and cheerful. I recalled what happened last night making me excited for today's events. I planned to drive her around town, see if it would spark any memories. With out a moment to lose, I got ready and headed over to my daughters' room.

Nearing my daughters' room, I noted a green light shining through the cracks in the doorway. As I entered, I saw my daughter sitting on the edge of her bed, messing around with some sort of screen that was projecting out of her arm.

"So, uh, couldn't sleep last night?" I said questionably

"I was merely awaiting your return, I assumed you had something more important that required your attention." Came her cold response, as she typed on her screen

"How about we go for breakfast, my treat" I said with an enticing smile

"Breakfast?" She stopped typing to look at me questionably

As we both exited her room, there was a knock at the front door. Fearing that it was Kenny trying to worm his way back in I told Sarah to stay in her room and to not come out when I said it was ok to.

"Look Kenny, I thought I told you to get lost" I said opening the door

But it wasn't Kenny, instead standing on my porch was my ex-wife Diana, still looking as pretty as the day she left. From the corner of my eye I saw Kenny's car parked on the side of the street, that little weasel.

"Hey Anthony" She said

"Hey" I said quietly

"You uh, gonna let me in?"

"Yeah sure" I said in an almost whisper as I opened the door for her

She walked into what was once our home, she walked into the kitchen and looked around and huffed

"Still the same as I left it, huh" She looked at me with a gentle smile

"Why are you here Diana" I said standing in the doorway, trying to avoid eye contact with her

"So, you and Kenny, what's up with that?" She said in a playful manner

I readjusted myself and tried to keep cool

"What's there to say about it, Kenny misused my trust for his own personal gain and I messed it up, no one got hurt!"

"You and I both know that's a lie!" Kenny crept through the front door as he entered

"GET OUT! This has nothing to do with you!" I said as I stomped toward Kenny angrily

Before I could reach him and show him the way out, Diana grabbed my hand and stopped me in place

"Anthony" She said quietly

"This whole thing is about Sarah isn't it?" She said almost quieter than her last words

I stood there trying to keep myself calm

"Yeah" Came my only reply

She rubbed the bridge of her nose, in what I assumed was a frustrated manner

"Anthony, it's been five years, you still haven't let go of her?"

"What's there to let go, she was a person, wasn't she?" I said angrily

"Anthony, I- "

"Anthony, what I mean is you can't let this haunt you, you have to move on"

"You know I can't Diana, to us she was Sarah Grace Matthews, on a mission to change the world-"

I turned my back away from Diana and Kenny

"- But to everyone else she was stop and go traffic, due to a crashed car on the northern expressway"

"Anthony -"

She stopped mid word; I was confused for a second but then I saw the green glow creep through in the side of my vision. I turned around and saw my daughter standing in the doorway to kitchen, both Diana and Kenny looked flabbergasted.

"Oh god, what did you do Anthony?" Kenny stumbled back trying to get away from her

"I brought her back" I said confidently

Diana who was calm minutes ago was now enraged

"Brought her back? This is not our daughter! She doesn't even look like her!" She practically screamed at me

I got between my two guests and Sarah trying to keep her out of this

"How could you do something like this? Something to us" She said pointing straight at me

"Us? This has nothing to do with you!" I began shouting back

What was once a sobering moment turned into a full-blown argument match, each one of us throwing blame towards each other. The whole thing was too much for Sarah to handle, she started to shake as her skin got brighter. She let out a loud bellowing

"QUIET!"

But instead of words came a blast of pure energy directed straight towards the floor. Kenny and Diana stood back and cowered away from her, and I tried to keep calm. When the blast of energy subsided, it created a large burn hole on the floor and it scorched the surrounding tiles, Sarah was astonished by this.

"Anthony! You have to take care of this, she is not our daughter!" She yelled at me

"Yeah, and you're not my Fucking wife, so why should it matter to you!" I yelled back

She stared at me in disbelief, she tried to form something to say before she shook her head and walked towards the door. Kenny followed behind, trying to pull her back into the situation

"Diana, you can't just walk out of this he needs help!" Kenny pleaded with her

She looked at Kenny coldly

"Well maybe he should ask his family for help" She said motioning towards Sarah

She slammed the door on Kenny's face as he stood in the entryway of my house. He turned around with a sad look on his face

"Anthony, Ple- "He couldn't finish his sentence as I forced him out of my house.

"Did you see that Anthony! I'm going to have to record that in my logs for later" Sarah said with glee

I knocked my head against the front door, maybe this was for the best choice for us

"Who were those people, Anthony?" She said questionably

"No one you need to know about" I said sweetly to her

"And its Dad" I said trying to remind her

* * *

Kenny followed close behind Diana, He was still trying to convince her

"Diana please! You're the only one who can talk some sense into him" He pleaded

"Kenny, it's just not worth it" She said coldly as she got in her car and drove off

Kenny was out of options, he didn't want to do this to his best friend, but he had no other choice

He drove off knowing just who to contact


	11. Chapter 11

"_What do you mean she left already?" I asked Diane as she read her book in the living room_

"_She said she was heading over to the library to get a project done for class." Diana said matter-of-factly as she turned a page in her book_

"_I thought we planned to head to the orchard and pick apples, as a family." I said with a twinge of sadness_

"_Don't be such a baby, we can always do it some other time." She said annoyed_

The weeks carried on as I tried to get Sarah more familiar with her past. Today was a special day, me and her were heading up to an orchard for our family's favorite past time, apple picking. The car ride over was long and uneventful, Sarah sat quietly in the passenger seat, staring out the window. The orchard was practically devoid of life except for the handful of family's and couples that roamed the orchard.

Sarah followed close behind me as we search for a good tree to start picking

"So, what exactly is the process of this "Apple Picking"?" Sarah chimed as we got closer to the tree

"Well its not that hard, just pick and place" I said as I grabbed the nicest looking apple off the tree, and took a bite

"Doesn't hurt to sample the product as well" I said jokingly with a mouthful of apple

As we started to pick the apples from the tree, Sarah followed suit picking and placing in the bag

"This seems very inefficient, is there not someone more suitable created for this task?" She said as she effortlessly picked more from the tree

"Well it's not about how quickly you pick, it's about the nature of doing it" I said as I lazily plucked the nicer looking apples from the tree.

I held the apple I was eating in my mouth and sat down under the shade of the tree, I patted the dirt to the side of me, motioning for Sarah to sit down. She looked at me strangely before taking a seat beside me.

"Sit down for a second and enjoy the day" I said as we sat in silence

A cold wind blew through the trees, shaking the golden leaves from there branches and falling silently to the ground. The sound of birds singing could be heard in the distance, as the sun beamed down on a cloudless sky showering everything in its warmth. I handed her an apple from the basket, she took it and held onto it.

"Calming isn't it?" I said stretching out my legs in the grass

"Yes" She said staring unemotionally at the apple as she examined it

"Something on your mind?" I asked trying to sit up

"Well, you know so much about me, where I came from and how I was created, but I barely know you" She said still examining the apple

"Well, there isn't much about me, my parents loved farming and it rubbed off on me. You write one good biology paper and next thing you know your studying germs." I said munching away at my apple

"So, you changed your designated role? Why?" She questioned

"Potatoes don't pay bills" I said smiling

"And what of your so called "Parents"?" She continued

"Um, well there not around anymore" I choked back the answer, they had been gone for so long it was hard to think about.

"Do you ever want to go back?" She said silently, her question took me by surprise

"More than ever, but I can't. It's all in the past and I need to move forward" I said earnestly

"Come on, let's go get some cider and doughnuts, my treat" I smiled

She stood up and grabbed the basket and looked down at me. I extend my arm for her to grab

"Mind helping me up, I'm not getting any younger"

We walked back listening to the wind in the trees, and the birds in the distance. A small smile crept onto Sarah's face


	12. Chapter 12

"_So how are you friends." I said sitting across from Sarah_

"_Fine." Came her quick response_

_The family dinner night was quiet except for the handful of questions me and Diana asked Sarah, which were usually followed by vague responses. As soon as Sarah was done with her food she quickly got up, cleaned her plate and left. Never in my life have I ever felt so disconnected from my family, but space was space for the still growing young adult._

I lazily opened my eyes, the television in front of me displaying nothing but a paused frame of my family. I stretched and yawned, I apparently spent the night on the couch and didn't realize it. I strained my head to the hallway; Sarah was standing there, her bodies green glow lighting up the hallway. I straightened up, was she watching me sleep this whole time?

"Hey, what are you doing up?" I said half asleep, rubbing my eyes

"Studying" Came her short reply

I mulled over her words for a few seconds, studying the stars? The layout of the house? It didn't really matter.

"There is a time for studying and a time for sleeping, you should be doing the latter" I replied stretching

"Perhaps, but I have some queries that need explaining first" she said approaching the couch

I rubbed my face; late night father daughter talks weren't my specialty, but I would have to give it a shot.

"Alright, take a load off and have a seat" I said patting the cushion next to me

"What is my origin?" She said sitting down very regal like

"You're Sarah Matthews, my daughter and a very good one at that" I said with a smile on my face

"Perhaps I should be more specific, what is the origin of my gemstone" She said coldly

"It was part of your collection of hand blown glass, I'm pretty sure it was your favorite" My smile slowly faltered, this topic was starting to ware itself thin, it was hard enough ignoring the giant stone embedded into my daughters throat but I would have to press on.

"At what kindergarten did I originate from?" She said on edge

"I, uhm what?" my smile was gone, this topic was taking a strange turn that I didn't want to follow

"Is there any way to contact Homeworld, or perhaps anyway to get back?" She said as her eyes widened in hope

"Hold on, timeout" I said rearranging myself back into my seat, Sarah's hopeful expression turning into disappointment

"What's this all about?" I said confused at my daughters' strange questions

"This whole time you have been feeding me useless information, I need more, what is my role, what is my rank, where is my current leader?" She said exasperated

I stared at her in confusion, she stared back waiting for a response. But there was no logical reply that I could give, she sat deep into the couch in a huff.

"Hold on and listen to me, I -" I said trying to piece together something to say

I held onto her hand; it was extremely warm. She gave me a sideways glance in an uncaring fashion

"You're Sarah Matthews, you have always been Sarah Matthews, knowing where you came from won't change anything and it will not change you. You will always be my daughter no matter what happens." I said with a reluctant smile

"I think I understand now." She said, I smiled and took a drink of some water from the glass on the end table

"You're scared of me." She whispered quietly to me, I almost choked on the water, the color of my face paling.

"W-W-What do you mean?" I stammered

"There's something about me that keeps you like this, perhaps it was something I once was, or maybe- " She said glancing towards the tv.

I quickly got up and switched the tv off, leaving only her body to light the room

"I'm going to bed, you should too" I said with a sense of desperation

"I was just about to leave." She said calmly

I left towards my bedroom but before I could make it, Sarah spoke up

"Anthony, your useless information wasn't bad information, it just isn't what I was looking for." She said still sitting on the couch

"You can still call me dad." I said silently under my breath as I continued onward.


	13. Chapter 13

_Me and Diana sat in the waiting room of the hospital, she was trying to keep calm, and I was pacing back and forth. The doctors told us she fainted during the car ride and smashed into a noise barrier; she was barely clinging on._

"_How could we let something like this happen?" Diana asked herself, her face buried deep within her hands._

"_I don't know" I said trying to avoid eye contact with my wife. I pulled her into a hug, I wanted to tell her, but I couldn't. Not even when the doctor came in, his face a pale Imation of death._

I awoke with a start to the sound of banging on my front door. I got dressed as fast as I could and ran towards the door. Opening the door two men dressed in black stood on my porch.

"Anthony Matthews?" Said one of them

"Who wants to know?" I questioned

"FBI, we have a warrant to search the premises." They both flashed me their badges before pushing me to the side and entering.

They both made a beeline for my garage, the sound of things crashing down made me realize, they were looking for something specific. I rushed to my daughters' room, making sure they wouldn't see her. I ever so silently knocked on my daughter's door

"Sarah!" I whispered

"Sarah, you have to hide!"

I creaked open the door to her room, she was not there. I flung open the door, my calm demeanor drained from my face. I whipped my head around the room trying to maybe find just a glance from her but to no avail. As I was exiting the room a cold gust of wind blew from the kitchen, I followed the wind like a trance, the back screen door was open wide, it was snowing heavily outside.

I stepped back; my mind was passing me by the second. I needed to leave she couldn't have gotten far, but before I got the chance one of the agents exited the garage and stopped me in my tracks.

"Mr. Matthews are you aware that it's against the law to own such dangerous government chemicals" The agent replied, backing me into the corner of the dining room.

"I need to leave!" came my only response, panic overtaking me

"That's not happening, I'm placing you under arrest." The agent said slapping one of the handcuffs onto my wrist

Before he could get the other one on, I pulled the cuff back and snatched it from his hand. He attempted to restrain me as I tried to get away from him, throwing any kick or punch I could to escape his grasp. One of my kicks landed directly on his knee sending us both tumbling down, but not before the agents head caught the edge of the countertop. I sat there for a second staring at the motionless agent slowly bleeding from his head, I thought to myself what have I done?

My remorse was interrupted by the second officer coming into view and pulling his gun, I booked it out the back-screen door hopping the fence and into the backwoods. I ran the snow whipping past me, haphazardly avoiding branches and trees. I made It pass and found myself in another subdivision, I scanned the area looking for anything to help until I saw a sign of hope. Parked on the side of the street was Kenny's car

I ran straight too it, peering inside Kenny sat in the driver's seat almost waiting for me. I pounded on the passenger window, hoping for him to unlock the door and let me in. I quickly got inside and buckled up.

"Kenny, we have to get out of here, this place is swarming with FBI" I said peering back out into the snow-covered suburb.

"I know." Came the silent reply from Kenny

I turned my head over to ask what he meant but before I could, Kenny landed two mean left hooks into my face. My vision became hazy and I was out. When I came to the weather outside was beginning to look frightful, a nasty blizzard stormed from the windshield. I slowly moved my head towards the driver side of the vehicle, Kenny sat there intently focused on the road ahead.

"Kenny?" I said slowly. "What the hell?"

"You wouldn't listen, now I'm going to have to show you myself." He said pulling into somewhere

The car came to a halt, I couldn't make out where we were or how far we drove. I looked back to Kenny, he looked tensed up and he was shaking.

"Kenny, why are you doing this?" I gingerly reached my hand out to put on his shoulder

But before my hand could connect, Kenny quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife and batted my hand out of the way.

"What the hell?" I gasped

"Stay back, this is for your own good!" Shouted Kenny

I raised both of my hands in the air, at this point I was scared out of my mind

"Get out!" Kenny yelled and pointed at the door

"What's going on?" I asked slowly

"GET OUT!" Kenny pushed me towards the door

I opened the door to the bitter cold and stood there, Kenny came close behind and pointed the knife towards the unknown

"Walk!" Kenny said trying to stow his fears

We walked in silence, only the deafening wind backdropped my kidnapping. Kenny hovered the blade close to my back, marching me along to what I assumed was my doom, but then I realized where we were. Standing in front of me was a lone tombstone among a sea of in ground headstones, a tree frozen close by.

"Read it!" Kenny said from behind my back

I shut my eyes, this wasn't happening

"READ IT!" Kenny pushed me towards the stone, I fell to my knees, eyes still tightly shut

"Fine I'll read it for you!" My eyes shut open as I looked directly ahead.

"Here Lies Sarah Grace Matthews Age- "

"NO!" I shouted as I recklessly swung my arm at Kenny

He caught it, and pushed me back to the ground, my elbow catching the face of the headstone.

"GOD DAMMIT! SHE'S GONE! IT SAYS RIGHT HERE, SHES GONE!" He screamed at me

I looked up at Kenny with a plead in my eyes to not continue

"Anthony, the thing in your house is not Sarah, she is something beyond our comprehension, She is a danger to us and to everything else!" Kenny said pointing the knife towards me

"Screw you Kenny, she's my daughter and I'll decide if she's a threat or not!" I said struggling to sit up

"I'm sorry Anthony, I just wanted to be friends again, I created a monster" He said quietly as he approached

"SHE ISN'T A MONSTER!" I shouted angrily

"I wasn't talking about her." He whispered as he stood above me

Just then, from what seemed like miles away a giant beam of green light shot into the sky, turning the pure snow into a light green. My mind was panicking, that was my daughters light, it could only mean one thing, she must be in trouble. As we both stared into the sky at the beam, I caught Kenny by surprise and swept his feet knocking him to the ground.

I started pummeling him into the ground, throwing lefts and rights into any part of his body that he wasn't trying to defend. I stopped when his arms fell to the side, he was bloody and bruised. I grabbed the knife and his car keys and stumbled back to his car. As I reached the door of the car, I heard him call out from the snow

"Anthony . . . If you leave now, you're losing everyone that ever cared for you, all for someone who doesn't know how to care back!" Came Kenny's raspy voice from the snow

I drove off, following the source of light


	14. Chapter 14

_I sat quietly on the couch, the book in my hand making the long night bearable to a certain degree. Sarah was sleeping in her room, recovering from some illness she was trying keep quiet about. I heard a noise from the kitchen, Sarah was trying to sneak by unnoticed._

"_Sarah, what are you doing up?" I asked. She stayed silent for a second before fessing up._

"_My friends wanted to hang, so I'm going over" she mumbled. I got up and walked over to her, she didn't look so good, she was still probably sick._

"_You should stay in bed" I scolded her._

"_Come on dad, I'm not a little kid anymore, I can take care of myself" She pleaded. She was right, she was getting older and I needed to let her go._

"_Please" She said with a sad look in her eyes._

"_Just make, sure to take some medicine and to call if you need me" I said placing my hand on her shoulder. She smiled and hugged me, pretending to wipe her face onto my clothes. I waved her off, knowing that everything was fine._

_But it wasn't_

_It was the last time I talked to her_

_And it was all my fault, everything was my fault_

_And everything that I have been given after that_

_Is what I deserved_

The car drove steadily along the freeway, I was chasing the beam of light getting closer and closer with each passing mile. My head was a jumbled mess, my home in a wreck and my daughter in who knows how much trouble. The blizzard carried on with ferocity as it pelted my windshield as I continued sailing down the road.

As I got closer to the center of the beam, the freeway started to get more and more backed up, looking ahead the road was being blocked off by police cars. I pulled to the side of the freeway, cars honking as if pleading for me not to go. I abandoned Kenny's car, and headed straight into the tree line, knowing a beeline towards it would be faster than waiting it out.

The forest was dense and thick, the cold making it almost unbearable to walk, but I pressed on knowing my daughter needed help. The wind pushed against me as I trudged through, if I didn't catch some sort of cold it would be a miracle. Eventually I ended up in a large clearing, my daughter stood in the middle firing off a beam of energy from her mouth towards the sky.

"SARAH!" I tried screaming through the whipping wind

"SARAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" I screamed to no avail

I inched closer and closer to my daughter, the heat of the light becoming almost unbearable, and yet I moved on.

"WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE SARAH, THERE EVERYWHERE!"

I tried placing my hand on her shoulder but before I could it was slapped away.

"NO MORE RUNNING!" The beam stopped, and she turned towards me with a scowl

I stumbled back onto the ground in shock

"I'M TIRED OF HIDING, I'M TIRED OF YOUR ANSWERS, I WANT TO KNOW WHO I AM, AND THERES ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!" She inhaled and continued to fire her beam of energy into the sky

This wasn't a signal for help, it was a beacon for others like her. I struggled to find any words; I slowly gained my footing trying to help myself up. Suddenly a loud humming filled the air, and my daughters beam slowly died out. The cloud of the blizzard started to part, revealing a large red circular ship with a large yellow triangle in the middle, it shined a bright light down onto us.

Sarah started to walk toward it, but before she could get closer, I put my hand on her shoulder, she glared at me angrily. The ship settled down in front of us, unraveling a hatch and a gangway to the snow below. Out stepped two large humanoid creatures, one was purple, and the other was orange, they both looked like body builders. They both walked intimidatingly towards us, whispering to each other, I walked forward hopefully to try and reason with them.

"There must be some mistake, Do you-?" I said as I approached the two figures

But neither one of them said anything, instead the purple one grabbed me by the shoulder and strongly shoved me out of their way, sending me down to the ground. They both marched over to my daughter grabbing her by the arm.

"Your coming with us, the boss is going to want to see this" The purple one said

"Let me go, I'm willing to come along as long as you have answers" Sarah said angrily

The Two both looked at each other than laughed

"Not a chance, Questions aren't our specialty!" Said the purple one as she hurled a punch into my daughters' stomach

It was a big mistake, Sarah unleashed a torrent of energy straight into the purple one's body, completely incinerating the purple creature. The orange one stepped back and pulled a weapon from out of nowhere, some sort of metal pronged weapon.

"LOOK OUT!" I screamed towards Sarah

She whipped her head towards me, ignoring the orange creature until it was to late. The orange one sank the weapon into the back of my daughter, causing a bolt of light to crack across the surface of her body. She fell to the ground on both knees, she looked towards me in confusion before only muttering one word.

"Dad?" She said quietly before her body vanished into dust and her glass heart fell to the cold snow

Everything went quiet, not even the howling wind could accompany the deafening silence of the snow. The orange one slowly stood over my daughters' lifeless gem, before picking it up and pocketing it. I Could feel myself push me back up, the pain lingering in my body no longer affecting me. My body began to move on its own, I was on a full-on sprint charging straight towards the orange creature, drawing the knife from my pocket.

I leapt, sticking the blade deep into the orange one's shoulder, her calm and collected face turned into a striking rage. I lost grasp of the blade as she grabbed me with both of her hands and swung me towards the tree-line sending me flying. The brief period of flight ended with a sickly snap as my left shoulder contacted with a tree. I braced myself against the tree, trying to hoist myself up to no avail, I was pretty sure my shoulder got disconnected.

The orange one was above me in no time, she grabbed me by the shirt and hoisted me into the air. The ringing in my ears made it impossible to understand what she was saying, it lifted one fist and planted it squarely in my face. My vision faded as the creature dragged me along.


	15. Chapter 15

_My eyes slowly opened, and then snapped opened when I realized where I was. I stood up slowly, I was in Sarah's room except everything almost seemed fake. I tested the walls, they felt like solid concrete. _

"_Dad." The echo of my daughter's voice came from behind me. _

_I whipped my body around as fast as I could to locate the voice, but there was no one. I heard her call for me again and I turned even faster, yet no one was there. The voice continued to taunt me and each time I turned my vision became slower and slower almost like time was beginning to freeze. Suddenly my body came to a complete standstill, I was fixated onto my daughter's glass collection which was now a tray of green dust. The dust slowly flowed onto the ground forming a shape of shattered glass that faintly resembled Sarah._

"_Sarah?" I said in disbelief_

_She did not respond, instead she opened her eyes, enveloping the room in a bright green_

"_Murderer." Came a static hushed retort_

_I could feel my heartbeat in my throat, I could only back up as she slowly hovered towards me. Slowly each shard of glass grew a mouth and started to chant her response_

"_MURDERER!" Came the bellowing replies from the shards on my daughter_

_I slid down the wall, my hands on my head, this wasn't real, it couldn't be_

"_Stop!" I tried speaking over the chants, but my voice was droned out_

"_I SAID STOP!" I said slamming my fists onto the carpeted floor_

Only my hands did not hit carpet, my fists instead impacted with solid magenta concrete and I stood up. I stood back from the wall my left shoulder sending jolts of pain through my body. Confused and dazed I inspected my surroundings; I was in some sort of pit with deep scratches on the walls.

What just happened to me? I thought to myself, was I daydreaming or is something wrong with me?

"How long has "it" been doing that?" Came a remark from above

I whipped my head upwards, two gems stood on the outcropping above. One was the orange one from before but getting a better look now she had short bob hair. The other one was teal in color and had a regal like appearance to her, she had her hair in a deep braid

"For a couple of hours, seems like it's calm now." the orange one said standing up from her crouched position

They both stared at me in a studious manor, I could only stare back in confusion

"I thought you said this one talked?" The teal one looked over to the orange one

"It was when I fought it, probably still in shock" She said folding her arms.

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a door sliding open, the look on their faces changed to annoyance as they looked towards the sound.

"EF12 How kind of you to join us" Came a sarcastic quip from the teal one

"My, my, is that how we treat a fellow Agate, to think you would be so rude aboard "our" vessel" The voice said in a taunting tone

Approaching from the other side of the outcropping two gems came into view, one looked exactly like the teal one except she was mossy green and her hair was short and messy. The other one was almost square in shape and was a golden brown.

"Our vessel? I'd rather share a ship with a human than the likes of you!" Came an aggravated response

"Then why don't we just consider it my vessel, after all, my underlings are still maintaining and operating the ship, while you are stuck with that Jasper and Peridot of yours" The green one said with a smile

"Afterall, I didn't just lose an amethyst to a human" She continued with her taunts

"Enough!" Came the teals stubborn reply

"Need I remind you that I was able to capture both of them, I'm sure yellow diamond would be pleased by my results no matter the cost" Teal said triumphantly

"Speaking of results" The green one said before turning her attention towards me

She crouched down to get a better look at me, I could only stare back and swallow the lump in my throat

"Pathetic little thing isn't it?" She said as she stood back up

"Well if this is all you have to show for your hard work, I'll leave it to you." She continued as she left the same way she came in, her companion followed suit

The teal one held her head in frustration, and began to storm off

"What should I do with the human?" The orange one said just before teal left

"I don't care, just throw him with the others." Teal said waving her off

"But-" Before she could finish the teal one had already left

Other ones? I thought to myself, if there were more people perhaps they would be able to help me escape

The thought was interrupted however as the wall to the pit shifted into light and opened into a narrow hallway. The orange one stood there, with a pair of gem like cuffs.

"Make this easy for yourself" she said with a bored expression

I put up no fight and allowed her to cuff me, as she led me out of the pit my mind wandered on how I was going to get out of this situation, how I was going to find Sarah and escape wherever I was. As I stared at the ground in silence the magenta floor_ slowly turned to snow . . ._


	16. Chapter 16

_I held my attention to the snow as I was marched along to my new holding quarters. This isn't real I repeated in my head. After no sign of changing I looked up to see my captor but in her place was myself also in chains marching along a seemingly endless line of myself. From the looks of it we where in a seemingly endless forest, the snow whipping past us like we were going at incredible speeds._

_The fog of the snow began to get denser and denser, until eventually I could not see anyone else in front of me. I turned my head to see if the same was happening behind me but what I saw was a disheveled looking version of myself also connected to the same chains._

"_What failures we both are, we couldn't even save our own daughter" The disheveled one whispered to me with a sickly smile_

_I tried to ignore him, and tried to march forward_

"_What kind of man kills another one and runs away just to make sure his daughter is safe" Comes another whisper_

"_I didn't kill that agent; he would have survived that blow" I said to myself agitated_

"_How can you be so sure of yourself, there was so much blood, he wasn't even responding" Another ill intended whisper_

"_Enough, I won't go second guessing myself" I whipped around to face him, but he was uncomfortably close_

"_Face It, you have become a monster, what kind of man can't keep his family together and what kind of man lets his daughter die!" He could barely finish that sentence as my fist found his face_

"_I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT ANYMORE!" I kept repeating _

_Each punch I landed on him only made him phase into the snow, his body slowly becoming part of the ground_

"_A man would save himself and move on from constructs of the past" it said silently_

"_I'm going to rescue my daughter" I said hovering above the body in the snow_

_The disheveled bodies sickly smile turned into a dead panned stare_

"_So be it" it uttered in a sickly-sweet voice that sounded all too familiar_

_A large fist appeared from the ground and connected with my left shoulder, sending me reeling back onto the ground and my vision began to blur. When the blur subsided, the snow_ was replaced with sand and I was on some sort of beach.

Wondering if I was back home the question was immediately answered when I looked up and saw a large magenta dome surrounding the area. I was on some sort of beach that was surrounded by a thick jungle. Trying to stand up, the pain in my left shoulder took me down, making it clear that it would have to be fixed before I can continue onward.

After a couple of shoddy attempts at popping it back into place the fifth time did the trick with a sickly popping sound. Although most of the pain subsided it still lingered and was numb.

Getting up, I scanned the area around me looking for the nearest exit. With none in sight I began to approach the dome, testing it with a knock to determine that it was indeed just like concrete. Hugging the dome, I began to trek through the dense jungle, and slowly had an eerie feeling of being watched.

I eventually reached what appeared to be a door, and tried to desperately open it, it would not budge. I whipped around when I heard foliage moving around and standing in front of me were three young adult humans wearing strange garbs and pierced ears.

"New friend!" the female one of the group shouted, as she ran up to get a closer look at me

Upon closer inspection of the group, their appearance was almost sickly, with pale complexions and the occasional cough

"Are you alright?" I asked the group while trying to back away

"Uh huh, uh huh, much better than before" The girl said enthusiastically

"Unlike the others we can stand!" One of the men chimed in

A chill shot through my spine, was this whole place contaminated? Is this some sort of containment zone?

"Are there others?" I asked sheepishly

"Yeah, there's more! Where going on a trip I can show you them" She said with glee

"No No! That won't be necessary!" I practically shouted

The pleas of the girl were interrupted when the groups earrings began to glow

"Greetings, everyone. It's time to start the daily routine. Please enjoy your meal during this designated eating period." Chimed the voice from the earring

"Let's go!" the female exclaimed as she took my hand and rushed into the forest with the rest of the group

They led me to a hilly part of the jungle with fruit trees, but there was dreaded feeling to it as I could hear coughing and groans in the distance. They began to hand me fruits of different shapes and colors while also eating some themselves, it tasted good, but I wasn't here for the fruit. Watching them eat made me feel out of element it was like I was a dog with a pack of wolves, or maybe it was vice versa.

After examining them, I had come up with something to help me escape, if the earring could send audio maybe it could also receive. Although the plan was pretty messed up, I was running out of options and possibly time. I gathered the group around in a huddle and pleaded them with my request

"I need you to hit me." I bluntly whispered to the group

They looked at each other confused

"What's hit mean?" said one of the males

"You know, punch, hurt, sound familiar?" the group only looked on in confusion

I threw my fist out a couple of times trying to demonstrate what punching was but to no avail. This was only halting my progress; I know what needed to be done but I wasn't going to like it.

"Sorry kid, this is gonna hurt!" I said grabbing one of the male's shoulder

I landed a mean left hook on his face sending him tumbling to the ground, the others looked on horrified. He slowly sat up and pressed his hand to his face, what I didn't expect was for him to cry, the others in the group also joined in on his wails.

"Alright, now you have to hit me!" I said to the other one

"w-w-wat?" the other one stammered with tears in his eyes

"Just like I did to your friend, hit me! As hard as you can!" I practically got in his face

"b-but!" his hands visibly shaking

"DO IT!" I screamed

He pulled back his hand and tried to hit me, but it came out as a slap, I sent myself to the ground trying to fake the injury

"Close enough." I said to him, dirtying myself up on the ground

I closed my eyes and pretended to be out cold, the sound of sobbing accompanying me in the dark. The sound of thunderous footsteps soon approached us.

"What happened?" Said a caring voice that sounded like the orange gem

"He-buh-him-uh-and-guh-WAAH!" The male could barely finish his sentence through the tears

"I'll be right back, just try to calm down" Came the voice again

She hoisted us both up as I could hear the crying get louder near me. I kept my eyes shut hoping were ever she would drop me would give me a perfect opportunity to get out of here. I waited and listened; it was all I could _do now. . ._


	17. Chapter 17

_There was nothing I could do now; I didn't know what was going on but what I could tell is that I am laying on something cushioned. I held my eyes shut, was this another hallucination? My question quickly answered by the quiet sound of a funeral dirge. My eyes snapped open; I was looking up at a wooden church ceiling inside of an open casket._

_I broke out into a cold sweat, I tried to gather my courage to peak over the side of the casket. What I saw was row upon row of past generations of family members, my father and mother the closest to me. Before I could even speak the church doors swung open into a blinding white light, and out stepped Sarah in the same dress she wore that day._

_I laid back and closed my eyes, trying to escape this horrible dream but I slowly heard the clatter of shoes hitting stone as she approached._

"_Dad?" Came the voice from above_

_I tried to shut out her voice, I didn't want to see_

"_Dad please." She requested_

_I open my eyes, above my casket stood Sarah staring down at me, her face as still as the day we put her to rest. I choked back the guilt and sadness, trying desperately to avoid what was in front of me_

"_Dad, you need to leave, you have to go home." She said quietly_

"_I can't, not without you." I whispered back_

"_That isn't me and you know that." Her still face said with agitation_

_I swallowed hard, it was those words that I didn't want to hear, those words that meant everything that has led to this was all for nothing._

"_Maybe." I said trying to not look her in the eye_

"_Why can't you let go." She said quietly_

_Before I could protest, she grabbed the lid of the casket and closed it shut, leaving me in the dark_. My eyes snapped open, I was laying on some sort of metal table, laying on the table next to me was the human I punched, he was strapped down and whimpering. I adjusted my body to try and get a better view of where I was, we were in some sort of large examination room with equipment scattered everywhere.

Then my eyes caught sight of her, at the very end of the room Sarah's gem was strapped into some sort of device. At the controls of the device was a lime green gem, with a strange shape of hair, she was grunting in what seemed like anger. I gingerly tried to get up but the door closest to the gem started to open, I laid back down and pretended to be unconscious.

The sound of the device stopped, and I could hear the sound of someone sigh in agitation

"How are they?" Said the voice I recognized from before as the orange gem

"How should I know, I'm a technician not a vet." Came a whiny voice from the other gem

"You're supposed to help!" the orange one said annoyed

"They've calmed down, that's good enough for me." The other one said continuing to work

"Well if you're not going to be a vet, why don't you be a technician and tell me what that gem is." She said matter-of-factly

There was a brief pause, and what sounded like a sigh of annoyance

"I have no clue, the structure is so basic that It could hardly be called a gem, and its power is so unstable it might as well explode within any minute. I have a hard time believing that this "thing" was walking, talking and fighting like you said."

There was more silence then the door opened

"I'll be back, I'm going to go set up the solitary island for the troublemaker over there." The orange one said

"I thought SV64 wanted him with the others?" Came the sarcastic quip from the other gem

"I'm supposed to make sure those humans are comfortable; I'm not letting him stay with the others if he's going to pull stuff like that." The orange one said as the door shut behind her

I waited then readjusted myself, looking for any advantage I could get to escape. Close to the gem was that metal pronged weapon from before, if it worked on Sarah it should work on her. I gingerly got up and sneaked closer and closer to her workstation.

As I got close, the gem stopped working and turned around, her face turning to horror when she saw me

"What The!" She shouted

I made a mad dash for the weapon grabbing it before she could even reach it. I slammed her against the wall, pinning her and pressed the device into her stomach

"Where are the escape ships!" I yelled at her

"I would rather die, than help you escape!" She angrily said

I pressed the device deeper in

"Don't!" She begged

"You'll just come after her." I said quietly

I activated the weapon, lighting splayed across her body and she went up in a poof of smoke, her gem clattered to the ground and her metallic arms and legs followed suit.

I ripped Sarah's gem out of the machine, large warning signs flashed across the multiple screens of the device. I held her gem in my hands, no scratches or anything, I was relieved for only a brief second. I exited the room, pocketing both Sarah and the weapon, outside a labyrinth of corridors and halls. I ran in a random direction, anywhere was better than here, nothing was going to stop me, especially when my vision began to _blur again . . ._


	18. Chapter 18

_I continued running onward, the once concrete like ground was replaced with ankle high water and the walls surrounding me were now a grey cloudy sky. There was definitely something wrong with me, but I pushed the thought to the side as I continued running. Up ahead I saw someone waiting for me, It was Sarah, she stood still as I passed her by while trying to escape._

"_Dad." Came her soft voice from behind, no matter how far I ran her voice still followed_

"_Please, Dad no more running." She said sadly_

_I looked behind myself as I ran, she was walking slowly behind me but still catching up. I tried to ignore her and find a way out of this mess._

"_You have to let go." She continued_

_I looked down at Sarah's gem in my hand, inside her gem I could see a reflection of her ghostly image._

"_I can't." I said quietly to myself_

_I stopped and so did Sarah, I turned around to face her._

"_This is all my fault, I let you die, how can a father let his own daughter die!" I sobbed to her_

"_I spent my whole life away from you, all I have left of you is a handful of memories of when we were together. You lived to fast and died to soon, and now I have no one!" I continued through the tears_

"_That's all you had to say." She said with a smile_

_She turned away from me and began to walk. I begged her not to go and tried to chase after her but before I could I tripped over myself and fell face first into the ankle high water_

_I stumbled through it like a cloud of smoke and landed on my hands and knees_, looking up was multiple of those red circular ships in a large hanger. I looked around, no gem in sight it was like luck was shining down on me. As I walked through the corridor to the hanger, I heard her voice.

"STOP!" It was the orange gem

I spun around, drawing the weapon from my lab coat, at the back of the corridor the orange gem came running towards me but stopped when she saw me pulling the weapon. Her teeth were gritted, and her hands were balled in anger, she stared me down like a wolf.

"You think I wouldn't have noticed your little stunt. Do you really believe you could run away." She said slowly

"Who's running?" I said standing my ground

She stood their examining me from a distance, possibly trying to find some sort of weakness

"You took the unstable gem too, why?" She said

I didn't reply

"Whatever that thing means to you, it does not matter. It's one of us and does not belong to you, hand her over and I will consider sparing you." She said matter-of-factly

"She belongs to no one, it's my responsibility to make sure she survives in one piece." I said preparing myself for anything

"You're both coming back." She said angrily

I took off my lab coat and gently slid it towards the hanger with Sarah's gem in the pocket

"You'll have to kill me first." I said back to her

She gave me a wicked smirk before crouching down into a fighting position, I followed suit extending the weapon out like some sort of makeshift sword. We started to circle each other, trying to find a fault in each other's defense. She rushed towards me with a straight punch, I barely dodged and swiped at her but she jumped back. We continued to circle

"I've killed things bigger than you, human!" She taunted

"Let's see you try!" I quipped back

I charged at her swinging my sword wildly, she merely dodged all of them and sent a kick straight into my stomach sending me backwards. She tried following up with an overhead slam, but I rolled out of the way. I was huffing and panting, but she showed no signs of stopping

"It's over human, all I have to do is wait you out, backup will be here soon." She said with a smile

I charged at her, but she caught my arm and twisted it, causing me to drop the weapon. She grabbed the weapon and threw it to the wall behind her and casually picked me up and threw me also to the wall. When I impacted to the wall a horrifying pain shot through my lower abdomen, when I fell to the ground I could barely stand, I coughed and out came blood. I struggled to look down, the weapon pierced my back, and was poking out of the right side of my abdomen.

"How foolish of you, know that your death will be slow and painful." She sauntered over to me

She grabbed the prongs that were sticking out, and yanked on them, sending a painful shock through my body. I used the last of my strength and grabbed the hilt of the weapon and sent a shock through me, staggering the orange gem in surprise. I lifted myself up and stuck her with the prongs in a half-handed hug, sending surges of electricity through me and her.

Cracking light splayed across her body; her face contorted in anger

"How D-dare Y-you!" She said glitching out

Her body poofed into smoke and sent me to the ground, her gem clattering alongside me. I clenched my fists and tried to sit up, but the pain was too much. I grabbed the weapon from my back and began to pull, it came out with splatter of blood and I threw it to the side.

With barely any energy left, I crawled towards my coat, grabbed Sarah's gem and left the coat behind. I crawled towards the closest ship, blood trailing behind me.


	19. Chapter 19

The pain shot through me like no other, inch by agonizing inch I crawled towards the ship, the pain in my side felt like I was constantly being stabbed. I paid no attention to the blood I was trailing; it was no longer important to me. I finally reached the ship, I scanned it's small interior until I found the panel that seemed like the controls. I hoisted myself up and tried to activate the panel but there was no response, I tried a couple more times out of desperation but there was nothing.

"Please, no." I grunted through the pain

I softly slid to the ground, clutching onto Sarah's gem. Was all this for nothing?

From a distance I heard the sound of cracking and then footsteps, their echoes coming closer and closer. I tried to reach for my weapon, but I realized I had discarded it after the fight. With each agonizing breath the footsteps got closer and closer, I shut my eyes to avoid what came next. When the footsteps stopped, I waited, there was nothing.

I opened my eyes again, there was no troop of guards, no giant gem to take me back, instead leaning against the ship's doorway was the mossy green gem from before, with a wicked grin spread across her lips.

"So, this is the emergency, that 7KB told me about." She said studying me

I said nothing, my labored breathing filling the silence

"To think a human and a peridot could shatter a quartz soldier." She said adjusting herself

I looked at her confused, before I could even say anything, she tossed a shattered gem into the room, it clanked against the cold metaling floor and scattered. It was colored like that lime green gem from before, my eyes widened.

"I don't understand." I said slowly

"Tell me human, which sounds better, killing you and returning the gem for partial credit with SV64?" she said coming closer to me

I sat deeper into the corner as she came face to face with me

"Or letting you escape, and turning in SV64 for her failure of leadership, prisoner management, and reckless use of infantry?" She said with a smile

I stared at her in disbelief, she didn't let me respond as she walked back to the door and activated a panel, she fiddled around with the controls and the ship came to life. Before she left out the door, she stopped and turned to me

"Don't stray too far human, when SV64 is executed I'll return for you and that gem, Dead or alive." She said with a smile

As she stepped off the ship the door shut behind her and we took off, the shuttle shaking and rattling as stars passed us by. I sat up and looked solemnly down onto Sarah's gem, but I knew that what I was holding just wasn't the girl I carried in my arms so long ago. A small pool of blood started to form underneath me, and the ship rattled harder and harder, my eyes getting heavier and heavier until I could no longer keep them open.

_My eyes began to blur and when I opened them, I was no longer on a cold metallic spaceship, I was sitting on a small hill underneath an old pine tree. The air was crisp and warm, I could hear the sound of birdsong in the distance as I stood up. Beside the hill sat a cramped dirt road with a small stone wall to mark the borders of the farm, I followed the familiar wall until my old family farmhouse came into view._

_I stopped near the driveway and examined my once old childhood home, but the figure sitting on the porch steps drew my attention more. I silently walked closer, and saw my father, his skinny appearance a dead giveaway_

"_You never were a talker, where you kiddo?" He said with his voice as smooth as sandpaper_

"_I don't understand." I said quietly down to him_

"_I think you understand quite well." He said rubbing his chin_

"_So, what? I'm just gone?" I said sadly to him_

"_Who said that? You really like jumping to conclusions son." He stood up and stretched_

_Before I could question him further, he slowly pulled me into a hug and patted my back_

"_We both know you didn't come here looking for me, you've came for Sarah." He said pulling back_

"_She's here?" I said to him quietly, he smiled in response_

"_She never left." He said with a smile and walked back into the house_

_I tried to follow after him but when I opened the farmhouse door, it led me into my kitchen. Snow billowed in from the open back door, and a box sat on the kitchen counter. I pulled out the VHS of Sarah's party, put it into the player in the living room and pressed the button._

_\- PLAY -_

_The screen was black, I tried messing with the tv but to no use. I looked up and the snow in my kitchen was gone and the door was closed. I got up and looked out of it, surprised to find that it was now a summer day and the party was out in the backyard, the guests stood around frozen like statues. I walked around the party, noting the guests that I could remember but at the same time I could not find my family anywhere. _

_My eyes caught the sight of and old swing set that we got rid of when Sarah turned fourteen, I could not explain it, but it beckoned for me to come closer. I sat down and watched the party from a distance, trying to figure out what this all meant._

"_Sad people shouldn't swing alone." Came a gentle voice to my side_

_Sitting on the free swing to my side was Sarah, she was gently rocking back and forth on the swing. I sat there trying to gather my thoughts._

"_There's so much I need to tell you, I- " I said softly before I was cut off_

"_I already know, dad." She said with a smile as she swung back and forth_

"_I tried to replace you, I'm so sorry. When you died everything was gone for me, I couldn't face the world in your shadow". I said solemnly_

"_Everything?" She said questionably_

_She was right and I knew it, I let my sadness lead my life and shut myself out of the world. I looked over to her but the sight of the small inflatable pool overflowing and flooding the back yard caught my attention. I stood up but the water was rising to quickly, it was already up to my waist, we needed to get out of here. I looked over to Sarah, but she was already standing up and her arms were outstretched in a hug_

"_Hold me Dad, I'm scared that when you wake up, all I will be is just another Sad and painful memory. I don't want you to be alone." She said with tears in her eyes_

_I ignored the rushing water and held my daughter one last time. Even as the water went over our heads, I could still feel her warmth even when water started entering my lungs._

I sputtered out sea water as I opened my eyes. The ship had wrecked and was gaining water quickly, I looked around and plucked the sea glass gem from the water and crawled to a broken opening in the hull. I landed with a dull thud onto the sand below, my eyes blurry, I looked up to the sky above, it was real. The sound of my heavy breathing mixing with the sound of the burning ship and, screams? I held the gem up to my face and smiled to myself seeing as there was no damage.

The sky grew dim as shapes crowded around me. With a smile I thought to myself

_everything that I have been given _

_Is what I deserved_

* * *

Authors Note: _Thanks for reading my first Fanfic, I've had a couple in the works but this one alone took me two years to make. (I procrastinate too much)_

Please, feel free to leave a review. I always appreciate feedback, even if it just says my story sucks.

Hope you enjoyed it and I wish you all well in this soon to be new year!


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